Will x Of x Fire
by JSagey
Summary: Sakura Haruno a year and half into her training with Tsunade, finds herself in the world of Hunter x Hunter after trying to show off a new jutsu to Ino. She finds herself in the company of new friends and new enemies with strange powers. Will this strange new world extinguish her fire or forge her into something greater?
1. Chapter 1

Inner = **BOLD **

Thoughts = _"Italics"_

* * *

She was falling through nothing, blank time and space around her. Inky black hands that pinned her and pulled her continuously through this portal. She didn't know how long she was in there, 5 minutes … hours… days? The rush of the space seemed to fill her lungs though there was no wind to speak off. It cut off her screams and stole her tears.

_I want… I _

"_What is it that you want", _the voice spoke and it resounded in her head. A pounding beat against her consciousness.

_What do I want? _The question turned in her head and all at once her Inner spoke out.

"**We want to be FREE!" **

As suddenly as the hands were pulling her they let her go and she fell through space. Whiteness consumed her vision and she shut her eyes against the brightness. Just as suddenly gravity seemed to take hold on her body again, quickly finding her equilibrium again she righted herself in the air and landed on concrete in a crouched position, a circle of dust swirling around her as she landed.

She stayed in that position, finding her mental as well as adjusting back to being on solid ground. Opening her eyes she found herself in a large underground room full of people… all of whom were looking at her, the animosity suddenly pressing on her from all sides. Her ninja training kicking in, she quickly concealed her nervousness and stood up.

Landing in a room full of people she didn't know, coupled with the overwhelming tension coming off of her audience would be enough to put even a jounin in a state of panic. She tamped down those feeling quickly, Tsunade-shishou didn't train her to panic and she wouldn't disappoint.

Willing the tension from her body she unsteadily walked over to the side of the room, highly aware of everyone's eyes following her trek. She leaned up against one of the pipes on the side room and waited till everyone slowly shifted their attention away from her.

Once she was certain she wasn't going to be attacked she started to collect herself.

She wracked her brain as to what led her to this place. She remembered showing Ino a new jutsu she found in one of the older sections of the Konoha restricted section. She had only explored those areas because Tsunade-shishou had encouraged her to expand her research and allowed her access as her apprentice. According to the scroll it had looked like a teleportation jutsu, but when she was practicing it she wasn't able to access it's power at all.

She specifically remembered Ino laughing at her and just imaging Ino mocking her was almost enough to make inner come out again.

She remembers, embarrasingly succumbing to Ino's petty taunts and putting all of her chakra into the jutsu instead of the conservative amount she had originally portioned off for it. She had felt her pathways light up and then Inner, still fuming at Ino, pushed her will into it as well.

It was then that she heard Ino's scream, she remembers snapping her eyes open and seeing Ino standing there in shock. She remembers turning around and seeing a cut in the space behind her that opened up into darkness and the hands that erupted and dragged her inside.

"_What the fuck" _she lamented, nothing in that recollection seemed like it would help her. She would try that jutsu again, but looking at her reserves they were incredibly low and if she did use it there was no guarantee that she would end up back home. The thought of going back into that...place...that was enough to make her shudder in distress, but she still had no idea where she was or what was going on in this place anyway.

It was then that she felt a presence coming towards her and she opened her eyes.

"Yo! Miss!", she opened her eyes to a stout, pudged-nosed man standing in front of her.

"You're new here aren't you!", the man's face was open and friendly as he regarded her, she could probably get some info off of him.

"How can you tell?"

He smirked at her question "My name is Tonpa. I guess you can call me a veteran of this exam, I've taken it 35 times now."

She raised her eyebrow at that. Either this man was especially inept, this 'exam' was especially hard, or like Kabuto he had an ulterior motive. A coldness came into her eyes at that thought.

"_Shit, I've got recover or this rookie is getting past me!", _Tonpa thought as he saw the mood shift that came over her. "If you have any questions about the exam I'd be happy to answer!"

Sakura mulled his offer over, "Very well, tell me all you know about the exam!" she smiled at the man, covering up her earlier hostility.

Tonpa breathed a sigh of relief, "Well, I have a lot of experience here, but there are also others. Such as number 255 Todo, the wrestler, he's unmatched in strength and he's smarter than he looks. On the other side, we have number 103, Bourbon, the snake charmer."

Sakura glanced at those two, the first just by looking at him wasn't going to be an issue, the second one however seemed like he might have more tricks up his sleeve.

Turning back to Tonpa as he spoke again, "He tends to hold grudges, so you don't want to end up on his bad side. And then… number 191, Bodoro, the kung fu master. He's getting old, but there still isn't a better martial artist around."

Tonpa then turned her attention over to a group of three guys in strange get ups with exaggerated face paint.

"Then you have the three brothers, Amori, Imori, and Umori. They perform consistently well, thanks to their excellent teamwork. And number 384, Gerreta, the huntsman."

This time it was a man in another non-traditional shinobi get-up.

"He specializes in killing all manner of creatures, by blow dart and club. There are many more, but those have taken the test the most times. In general, though I would be very careful around number 44, Hisoka, the magician. He took last year's exam, but was disqualified when he almost killed an examiner."

She followed Tonpa's eye-line to a tall, red haired man on the other side of the room. There was definitely something about him that screamed danger, she made a mental note to keep away from him.

"Ne, ne, that's very interesting but tell me more about this exam," Sakura smiled at him.

"Well the Hunter Exam is composed of various stages around 4 or 5 with a licensed hunter developing the tests as the examiner. It changes every year so there really is no telling how the exam will play out."

"_Does this kid have any idea where she is?", _Tonpa smirked, "_What an easy mark!"_

Sakura sensed she'd reached the end of his usefulness and something was telling her he was about to switch his tactic as well, "Thank you for the information, Tonpa-san, but I'll take my leave now."

"Wait! Before you go, we should drink to celebrate your first exam!", he reached into his bag and pulled out an orange can of juice and offered it to her.

Looking at the can she almost missed the grin spreading across his face. She narrowed her eyes, the bottle is probably poisoned. **SHANNARO! YOU SHOULD KICK HIS ASS!**

"I'm sorry, but I must decline I can only assume you must have done something to the drink," turning she left the gasping man behind her. She needed to conduct some more recon if she was going to understand what the hell a Hunter Exam was and why she was suddenly included.

* * *

**Thank you for reading my first fic! I would love some feedback on the story! I hope to update pretty regularly, possibly once a week. **

**I used to watch Naruto pretty consistently when I was younger and rewatching it I realized how much Kishimoto can't write women and how much Sakura's character got jipped in terms of development. This kind of culminated with the lack of central female characters in HunterxHunter and how much I love that show as well. **


	2. The Journey Begins

I wrote a much longer chapter this time! Let me know what you think! In terms of where I see Sakura's development and also her current look, including outfit I'm pulling from the Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom movie.

As always I don't own Naruto or Hunter x Hunter. They are owned by their respective creators.

* * *

"_Why is this the only interesting thing going on?"_, a young silver-haired boy was watching the whole exchange from across the room.

Killua Zoldyck was just as surprised as everyone else when a young girl that looked his age just appeared out of thin air. There was a moment of stunned silence as everyone registered the newest Hunter Exam contestant.

The girl got up and for a second he thought she might attack from the look on her face, but in the next second the feeling was gone and she moved over to the other side of the room. He even watched as she extracted info from Tonpa and wasn't surprised when she refused his drink. He had a feeling that she had more skills than her appearance let on.

He watched as she moved away from Tonpa and jumped onto a large pipe on the wall. She started to observe everyone in the tunnel her eyes lingering on the key strongest fighters. There was something about the way she was looking, though, it seemed more like she was cataloguing something.

He looked to where she was staring… it was the strange man with red hair and a weird clown-like getup. He was possibly as strong as Illumi, it made sense why she was checking him out.

Looking back… he caught himself staring straight into vibrant green eyes. "_CAUGHT!" _his brain flashed in warning.

…

…

…

After her small interlude with Tonpa, Sakura had positioned herself away from the general crowd on top of one of the large pipes in the room, she made sure to keep her distance from Tonpa who also sat on a pipe near the entrance. She ran through additional genjutsu checks but there wasn't so much of a blip in this reality. She didn't know where she was and looking around no-one looked even semi-recognizable and there wasn't hitai-atai in sight. She realized that until she had gathered more information she wouldn't be able to make any moves without knowing the consequences of said actions.

If it was Naruto here he probably would have just started screaming and made a big mess of everything. He never was good at the "ninja lies in wait" part of their training. She, on the other hand, was always waiting to see what would give her the most advantage or at least that's what she told herself. Tsunade was the one to truly teach her how to hone that part.

So far she counted 402 contestants not including herself, she had mentally catalogued most of the visible weapons she had seen, who was wielding them, and went on to memorize everyone's number.

She had felt the occasional eyes on her in her systematic breakdown of the room, but there was one pair that was especially consistent. She'd just made her rounds back to this HIsoka person when she felt the eyes again.

Whoever, they were they were very good at concealing their presence and it took her a bit to locate where the gaze was coming from. She quickly snapped her eyes over and caught her culprit in the act. Bright blue eyes widened and she could tell her stalker was surprised at being caught.

Sakura was more surprised to see a boy, looking to be around her age, with shocking white hair. His hair reminded her of Kakashi so much that her heart gave a tug. Sensing he wasn't harboring any ill will towards her she smiled and gave him a little wave.

He frowned at her and looked away while pouting. She giggled at his reaction, he reminded her of a mix of Sasuke and Naruto. It was cute, in a sense.

Satisfied he wouldn't keep staring after having been caught, she went back to her observations. She noticed an elevator at the entrance of the tunnel had just opened up and deposited some new people. One was a young boy with spiky hair in a green outfit, a blond-haired teen in a long styled robe, and an older man in blue suit with a briefcase.

What did interest her was the badges they had acquired from what looked like an exam attendant. She swiftly jumped from her position and made her way over to the only person who might actually be able to help her.

"Oh, miss! What can I help you with?", the attendant looked up at her.

"Um….", now that she was here what should she say? Should she admit she doesn't belong here? What would happen if she did? Would she be considered an intruder? Would she be attacked? Should she pretend to be an exam taker? The questions raced through Sakura's head at lightspeed until a small voice interrupted her.

"Oh! You don't have a number, here you are!" the attendant handed her a badge with the number #406 on it. Sakura numbly took the badge from the attendant, "_Maybe I should have asked to leave instead…." _

"AHHHHHHH", painful screams erupted. Sakura whipped her head around to see what was causing the commotion.

Red flowers blossomed from the man's arms disintegrating them entirely, "Oh, how peculiar… his arms seem to have become flower petals."

#44, Hisoka, stood over the man danger oozing off of him as everyone shifted back and away from the psychopath. "Do take care. When you bump into someone you really should apologize."

Personally Sakura thought it was bit overkill to take a man's arms for such a slight, but if her hunch was correct this man was probably the level of a jounin and had a penchant for toying with his victims. He reminded her of Orochimaru, the bastard's sick games and bloodlust all part of what made him truly dangerous. It made her furious that this man could so easily take someone's life, could brutalize someone and never care or think about it again.

It'd taken her a while after her first kill to truly feel comfortable in her own skin again, but it didn't make any of the other kills easier. That service to her village was an expectation though and being the 5th's apprentice came with an even bigger expectation to follow every order to the letter. She had killed plenty now, despite how Tsunade has been able to keep her off missions that require assassinations.

She didn't want to confront this man if she had to though and turned her attention back to the attendant who was casually watching the scene unfold. It might not be against the rules to attack the others in this exam then if this was the reaction by the officials here.

She needed to be extra careful.

* * *

Gon and their group had just been talking to Tonpa when Hisoka had attacked, drawing their attention away from the conversation to the spot where the man laid on the ground. Tonpa brought them up to speed on the murderer and his past in the exams as well enthralling them with the gruesomeness of it even if they didn't quite trust him.

It was then that Tonpa played his usual trick of offering the laxative drinks to the group. Tonpa watched with delight as the young boy, Gon took a gulp from the drink.

"BLEHHHHHHHHH", the kid let all of it drip from his mouth.

"Tonpa-san, this juice must have expired. It tastes funny."

Leorio forcefully spit out the juice as well, "Seriously? That was close!"

_That laxative should have practically no taste or smell! _Tonpa thought, _Geez first that kid who drank a whole bunch, then that weird girl with the pink hair, and that ridiculous ninja guy! What's next?!_

"I've sampled all types of mountain grasses and plants. So, I can usually taste when something is bad.", Gon was smiling at him like he didn't almost get poisoned.

"Ahh, my bad I must have not seen the labels!"

"Oh….really" a soft voice behind him spoke out. Tonpa whipped around and was met with the smirking pink-haired girl from before.

"Y...y..yeah! I'll j...j...just be…"

"Yeah, you should…", Sakura watched as Tonpa had to scuttle off to save face with this group. She was glad she could scare him off, this exam was starting to remind her of the Chunin exams and this group seemed so fresh it reminded her of her Team 7.

"Thank you!"

Sakura looked back to the group to see the boy in green had gotten really close to her and was staring into her eyes. He was about the same height as her, but he seemed younger about the same age as the white haired boy from before. With a sense of annoyance she noted that both seemed to be about as tall as her.

"No problem…"

"My name is Gon!", his eyes shining with excitement, "What's yours?"

She mulled this over, if she gave out her name would it be a disadvantage? She needed allies if she was going to figure out where she was and she couldn't sense any evil intent from him or his allies, though the blonde one seemed a bit intense.

"Sakura….Haruno Sakura"

"What brought you to the Hunter Exam, Sakura-chan!"

_Sakura-chan?! _She barely even spoke to him and he's already so personal..._He's just like Naruto._

_A creepy portal and very touchy hands, _she thought. "Um….no real reason."

"HUHHHHH", the older man snapped at her, "What, so you just WANDERED in here!"

"Leorio!", the blond-haired boy berated the older man, "Don't be so rude! I apologize for his behavior, he's an idiot."

The man, Leorio, screamed at this.

The blonde ignored him, "I'm Kurapika and you've met my companions Leorio and Gon. Am I correct in guessing this is your first time at the exam as well?"

"Yes, it is. I would be careful about who you trust, not everyone wants to be friends here."

They all seemed a little taken aback by that statement.

* * *

After Tonpa hightailed it away from the crazy pink-haired brat he took stock of his other failed conquests. First she saw past his ruse and used him to get the information she needed then she had the gall to intervene with the other group.

His mind conjured up a cartoonish version of the girl in his head complete with flames and sharp teeth as she stomped around in his head.

He looked over to one of the other rookies this year, number 294, Hanzo. Their interaction less than great, despite him thinking that he would be able to fool the strange idiot, the 'ninja' was a little more crafty and refused to accept the drink as well.

_That was no normal glare he gave me. I'd be dead if I messed with him._

As he was waiting he saw number 301. That man was another dangerous figure and anytime he came around the place would get even creepier.

Of course, there's number 187, Nicholas the most annoying of the rookies. The annoying brat calculated the data points to get to the entrance of the exam and figured out who he was before he even had a chance to enjoy his game!

"Ne Ne, Tonpa-san! Do you have anymore of that juice? I got thirsty again because I was so nervous." The white-haired boy said from across the cavern.

"Yes, sure!" Tonpa smiled nervously, _That kid should have gone off purging with my laxative by now. How could this be? _

The young kid stalked over to him and started chugging down the juice.

_Even for a laxative like this, taking so much will lead to dehydration and it could even kill you!_

"Are you worried for me? I was trained for this. It's alright, poison doesn't work on me."

"Poison?" _Don't tell me he already knew I spiked the juice? It's poisoned, but he drank it anyway! Number, 99 Killua. Looks like this year's rookies are tough nuts to crack! Oh well, things are going to get even worse. _And with that thought Tonpa smirked.

* * *

Across the tunnel an alarm rang out, disrupting all the contestants from their thoughts. The tension in the room reached an alarming peak as all the contestants waiting anxiously to see what would happen.

Sakura looked around but the only place she tell where the sound came from was the opposite end of the room. Just as suddenly the wall at the end of the cavern started to rise. The rumbling sound filled the room and captured the attention of all the candidates.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting for so long. Now, we have come to the end of the exam registration." A purple-haired man stood where the wall had lifted up to reveal a larger tunnel beyond.

And with all the grand ceremony of the Chunin exam he announced, "And so the Hunter Exam begins now!"

"Let me remind you all again. If you are not lucky enough or strong enough, taking the Hunter Exam could lead to serious injuries on your part and it could even cost you your lives. For those of you who are taking the test in spite of all that. Please come with me. For those who are giving up, please leave the place by taking the elevator behind you."

This declaration flashed Sakura back to the Chunin Exam's first test. _I could give up, leave this place, try to find my way home? _But as she looked around her eyes caught Gon form in front of her and for a second she saw an orange covered back not green. _After this, I'll find my way back._

"Well then, all 405 candidates have decided to take the first test." And with that the examiner started his comical walk down the tunnel. The candidates all starting their own pace after him.

"So nobody is dropping out, just as I expected." Leorio spoke.

…

…

…

The pace the instructor set continued for a brief moment before the group subtly realized he had increased his speed and they in turn increased theirs. The front of the groups pace started to turn into a run.

As Sakura observed this she had her suspicions as to what was happening.

"What's going on now?" Leorio asked.

"The ones in front have started running." Gon answered

Kurapika confirmed their suspicions, "He is picking up his pace."

"I forgot to mention," the examiner's voice range out, "My name is Satotz and I am the official examiner for the First Phase. Now I am taking you to the Second Phase venue."

_Exactly what I expected, _Sakura thought.

"Second Phase? Then, what's the first?" a bald contestant upfront called out.

"The First Phase has already begun."

"What? The First Phase has already begun?" The other contestants looked around confused by the statement.

"Following me to the Second Phase venue is what the test is all about." Satotz replied.

"So we just have to follow you, is that it?" Number 294 asked again.

"Yes. I apologize for being unable to inform you where and when we'll 'll just have to follow me."

_So they added a psychological level to it. _Sakura was impressed, but running for hours on end was all a part of her training and while she definitely didn't enjoy it being with Lee meant she hadn't gotten a day off in over a year.

"So, is that it?" Kurapika spoke out next to her.

"What a strange test," Gon agreed.

"I think it's to test our patience" Leorio guessed.

Sakura was happy they were starting to catch on to the trick of the test. She , "Just what I'm looking for! We'll just have to catch up wherever he goes!"

Sakura looked over at Kurapika and realized he was thinking what she had figured out earlier.

…

…

…

They'd been running for over two hours now and the instructor didn't seem even close to stopping. She stayed to run back with Gon and his group content to just run for a ibt and try to ignore how boring the whole thing was.

Of the group, Leorio was the one actually struggling both his outfit and briefcase weighed him down and he didn't seem to be in the best of shape. It was like she was before she really applied herself to her training. Gon and Kurapika were both faring much better with Gon showing no visible signs of fatigue which was impressive.

Sakura was letting her mind drift again when she suddenly hear Leorio call out, "Hold it right there kid!"

The white-haired boy from before was casually riding his skateboard which was the reason Leorio had gotten so upset.

"Don't underestimate the Hunter Exam!" He yelled after him.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about your skateboard! Isn't that cheating?"

"How so?"

Leorio growled at that, "This is an endurance test!"

"No, it's not!" Gon's voice called from behind them.

"What? Gon, what are you saying?"

"The examiner only told us to follow him."

"Whose side are you on?"

The boy ignored Leorio and let himself drift back towards Gon. "Hey, how old are you?"

"I'm 12." Gon smiled at him.

"Hmm," the kid suddenly flipped off his board, catching it in one hand, and started jogging alongside them. "I should go on foot now too."

"Wow! That was so cool!" Gon added a bit of speed to catch up to Killua.

"I'm Killua."

"I'm Gon!", and then pointing over towards her, "and that's Sakura!"

Killua nodded over towards her, "How old are you?"

"I'm 14."

"EHHHHHH" They both looked at her incredulously.

Her cheeks flamed up at that, sure she wasn't as developed as Hinata and Ino but she wasn't flat chested either! She turned her head away from the group in a huff.

…

…

…

As the run continued Sakura saw more and more people fall behind and more worryingly Leorio was steadily dropping back as well. _He's not going to pass at this rate. _

And true to her prediction Leorio's briefcase fell to the ground with a **thud**. This caught the attention of the rest of the group as they turned back to look at him. He was panting hard and bent over, long since exhausted from the run.

Gon stared at the man as his eyes glossed over and he desperately searched for air.

Killua looking back at Leorio tried drawing Gon's attention back to the exam, "Leave him alone. Let's go."

Sakura had seen that look in Naruto's eye one to many times and knew she should do something. Trotting over to him, she bent down to his eye level "Do you want me to carry you? I'm very strong."

"Are you kidding me? I have to become a Hunter!" All the sudden Leorio shot past her crouched form with sudden speed. "Damn it!"

_That was unexpected, _she thought. As she moved to grab his briefcase Gon shot out his fishing rod, snagging it before she could reach it and caught it in his other hand. He smiled and stuck his tongue out at her.

"That was so cool!" Killua exclaimed.

Sakura laughed as she ran to catch up to them.

* * *

While the boys talked about lending each other their skateboard and fishing rod they eventually came to a long set of winding stairs. Up ahead the instructor had started to increase his pace, nimbly leaping up the steps.

"Gon, Sakura, do you want to bet who will reach the finish line first?" Killua egged them on.

Sakura sighed at that and the boys looked at her pointedly, "Come on, Sakura, loser buys dinner!" Gon encouraged.

"Unless you're chicken."

"Fine! Try to catch me if you can, losers!" She couldn't help taunting them and sped ahead of them both.

The boys laughed and scrambled to catch up to her.

…

…

…

As they continued their run they eventually caught up to Leorio and Kurapika, who had gone ahead in the group earlier. It seemed that the two were having another argument in the meantime, but Sakura could almost sense a peace between the two whereas earlier she had picked up on the disagreements.

Sakura picked up her pace a little more to keep running a couple steps ahead of them.

"I've got to go ahead, Kurapika" Gon called out.

"I've got to go, old man".

"I'm not that old! I'm a teenager just like the three of you!"

At this bombshell everyone practically froze. Sakura paled at that, _how in the world…. _

"Huh"

"NO way!"

…

…

…

As they continued up the steps they passed more and more dropouts … **Literally **…. Her inner added.

Killua broke their silence, "I'm amazed that you've managed to keep up with me."

"Really?" Gon said.

"Hey! I've been the one leading this charge!" she exclaimed.

"I would say everyone else is too slow. Huh, looks like the Hunter Exam isn't so hard after all." He seemed really put out by that.

"Hey, Killua. Why did you want to become a Hunter?"

"Me? I'm not so into being a Hunter. I just heard that the Hunter Exam was extremely difficult. So I wanted to try it for fun. To me it seems good so far." Gon and Sakura looked at each other, both curious about their new companion.

"What about you Gon?'

"It's because my dad is a Hunter. So I want to be a Hunter just like him."

They dodged a couple more passed out bodies on the stairs as they made their way up.

"What kind of Hunter is your dad?"

"There are different kinds?" She asked, too curious to keep her mouth shut. Killua looked at her incredulously and looked about to berate her until Gon interrupted with his own statement.

"I don't know." At that point they both looked at Gon with disbelief.

"Hahaha! You know you're kind of funny!"

"Really?"

"You want to be a Hunter like your dad, but you don't know him at all."

"That's because Mito raised me from birth.I only got to know my dad through pictures."

"Is she your mom?" she asked.

Gon shook his head, "She's my aunt. She told me that my dad took the Hunter Exam when he was 12. After he passed it he left the island out of the blue. I want to know what kind of Hunter he is, even though he abandoned me."

_What a strange set of boys. Their so much like Naruto and Sasuke, but… _

Up ahead a burst of light brought Sakura from her thoughts. The other contestants cried out in relief at the sun shining ahead, signaling the end of their journey. They all put on speed determined to be out the others to the exit.

* * *

Satotz was additionally happy to finally be out of the tunnel. Despite this being his test he still doesn't love running for miles in the dark forever, which some might find difficult to believe with his excavation experience.

_Now let's see how many of you can make it this far? _Reaching the top of the tunnel he stopped to look back when pink-hair blurred past his vision.

"Shannaro!"

A pink haired girl stood in front of him and she immediately followed by two young boys right behind.

"We won!" They both screamed out which dwindled when they saw the girl in front who was currently stretching out her legs in exaggerated positions, "...SAKURA!"

They then proceeded to ignore him in favor of arguing about who was buying who dinner. The dark-haired boy coming to the conclusion that they'd both buy Sakura dinner and then Killua would for his dinner and he would pay for Killua's.

"Excuse me, Mr. Satotz. Is this where we'll take the second test?" Gon interrupted their argument.

"No it's still far away." he answered the strange set of kids.

"Oh, man!"

* * *

The boys refused to stop bothering her about how fast she could run, they wanted demonstrations, tricks and more. It reminded her of when she was bugged by Sasuke and Naruto when she walked up the tree before them. As she was fending of their questions, the rest of the group started to arrive.

She noticed that Kurapika had great endurance despite the lack of speed and was happy to see that Leorio made it too.

"Hey Kurapika!" Gon called out to them as they came up.

"Hey, is this the finish line?" He said while looking around at the mist covered area.

"I heard it's not."

"Oh?" He seemed to take that well, "Look the fog is clearing."

"Really?" Gon stood up to look at the passing fog, smiling brightly at the new land he was seeing.

Sakura giggled at his childish reaction, but she too was curious to see where she had ended up and this would be the perfect opportunity. And indeed the fog did start to clear out, revealing lush green wetlands thick with swampy flora. Vines and trees as far as the eye could see and she bet that if she had a bird's eye view this terrain would stretch for miles and miles around them.

"This is the Numere Wetlands, popularly known as the Swindler's Swamp." Mr. Satotz started to tell them, "this is the path you have to take to get to the Second Phase. There are many rare animals here that you can't find elsewhere. Many of them prey on humans by playing tricks on them. Such creatures are resourceful and rapacious. So everyone, be careful and follow me closely."

At this Satotz turned towards them, a stern and deadly serious look in his eyes, "If you get tricked you will die." At this dangerous warning the gate to the tunnel behind them closed leaving one last straggler behind.

"These wetland creatures will use all sorts of tricks to catch their prey. In doing so, it becomes an ecosystem where they get their prey through deceit. That's why it's known as the Swindler's Swamp. So be careful not to get tricked and follow me closely."

Everyone seemed to take the warning to heart, tensing as they prepared for their continued journey.

Leorio broke the tension, scoffing "This is ridiculous. Now that you've warned us all, who's going to get tricked now?'

All of the sudden someone yelled from edge of the group, "Don't fall for it!"

"Of course, I'm not falling for it." Leorio looked over the man yelling.

"Everyone don't fall for it!" A man walks from around the edge of the tunnel entrance. He's beaten up and bruised, limping on one leg. "That man has been lying to all of you! He's not an examiner. He's an imposter! I'm the real examiner!"

People in the group seem shocked at this new development, she isn't sure what exactly is going on. Was this part of the exam? Or is this a concoction from the swamp?

"Imposter? What's going on here?" Leorio looked bewildered between Satotz and the new man.

"Who's the real one?" Number 294 asked.

"Look at this," the man pulled something from behind the wall and threw on the ground in front of the group. It was a monkey with a man's face, it's tongue protruding grotesquely from its mouth. What was worse the face of the monkey did indeed look like Satotz's face.

"He looks just like Mr. Satotz!" Gon shouted out.

"He's a Man-Faced Ape that dwells in the Numere Wetlands!"

"A Man-Faced Ape?"

"Man-Faced Apes love human flesh. But their limbs are slender and they're not powerful at all! So they disguise themselves as humans and lure us into their lair! And they'll team up with other creatures to eat us. And he intends to catch all the Hunter Exam candidates in one go!"

"Oh boy…." now Leorio was well and truly confused.

Sakura was as well, never in her life had she heard of creatures of places such as these. It worried her that she would have to get through this swamp which felt so very similar to Death Forest back home and her previous exam. At least she was more prepared this time and something inside fluttered with excitement at the idea of testing herself here. The mental exam happening now was feeling like a nice stretch she wanted to take.

"Indeed, it's not normal for a human to have legs like that." Number 294 again, before he had seemed capable. Maybe he's onto something?

_Something isn't right..._.As Sakura was cataloguing he injuries something about them seemed off? _**THERE! **_His leg! She could see a well-placed cut right above where an artery would be, however, the bleeding was minimal. Most of the bruises seemed inconsistent if actual damage wanted to be done instead it was just made to look like a fight had happened.

She quickly looked at the dead creature. She couldn't see any identifiable killing blows to the body, here again the damage was inconsistent. _Arigatou, Tsunade-sama, _Sakura thought as she removed a kunai and started to move to apprehend the fake examiner and creature on the ground.

_**FSHHHHHH, SWHHFHH **_… before she could make her move playing cards came suddenly and pierced the new guy swiftly, one even going to straight into his head. Another set of cards went straight to Satotz who caught them in between his fingers.

_How did paper do that!? _She thought, eyes widening. _That man! Hisoka! _

Hisoka was currently shuffling cards mid-air and gently laughing to himself, "I can see it now. Isn't it obvious? You're the real examiner."

Satotz threw the cards to the ground while everyone stared in disbelief. The monkey creature suddenly got and went screaming into the forest. She almost had the thought to kill, but it was probably best to just let it go and not waste the time or weapon on it.

"A so-called 'examiner' is a Hunter hired by the Selection Committee to serve for free. They might not be the Hunters we aspire to be, but that kind of attack should be easily deflected."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Satotz responded, "However, if you lay a hand on me again, for whatever reason, it will be considered a violation against the examiner. You will be immediately disqualified. Do you understand?"

"Yes." though the grin Hisoka wore was anything but contrite.

Large vulture-like birds swooped down to feast on the corpse, now turned back to its original form, reminding the group the new territory they were about to step into.

"It really was a Man-Faced Ape." Kurapika chimed in.

"He would accuse me of being an imposter to confuse candidates, so he could take away quite a few."

"We can't let our guard down at all." Killua looked put out by the annoyance of the challenge.

"No." Gon looked determined, however.

"There are going to be life-threatening tricks like this day and night. Some of you must have fallen for that and begun to suspect me, am I right?"

People in the crowd looked ashamed to have been caught up in the game like that.

"Listen up. The fog will be thicker up ahead in the Numere you lose me even once, don't even think you'll make it to the Second Phase. So, please be careful. It's time to move on, so follow me closely."

With that the group started their path deep into the heart of the hostile wetlands.


	3. Battle in the Mist

Welcome back! Sorry about the delay, but my life caught up to me like a speeding train and I was tied to the tracks. I expanded on the Hisoka conflict and even added something mischievous that we are learning Inner can do….

I don't own Naruto or Hunter x Hunter they both belong to their respective owners.

* * *

They ran through dense clouds of fog, the thick white clouding their steps and more worryingly those of the examiner in front of them. Satotz was prone to telling everyone to follow closely and Sakura could tell it was because he wanted to minimize the deaths despite being the one to bring them to this area. They trudged through the swamp each step resounding with a wet sludge and Sakura was brought back to her time in Kiri, the misty marshes and the fateful fight on the newly minted Naruto Bridge.

The recollection of that time set her on edge, more so than she already was by the sheer nature of the swamp itself. This wasn't a place for anything good to happen and while the creatures probably posed little threat to her, her new companions might not be so fortunate.

All the sudden she became aware of killing intent, a chilling feeling that dominated her senses. It wasn't directed at her or anyone she was near, but it was within the group not from an outside source; so, it wasn't one of the creatures who inhabits this area.

"Gon, Sakura." Killua grabbed their attention, "Let's go to the front."

"Yeah, we don't want to lose track of the examiner." Gon was right about that, but she was pretty sure that Killua had sensed what she did and wanted to move out of the blast zone.

"More importantly, we should keep our distance from Hisoka. That guy attracts trouble. I can smell it." Killua was definitely right about that. Sakura was impressed, he had well-developed battle senses for someone his age. She wondered just who her traveling companions were?

"Smell it?" Gon started to sniff the air, "Hmmm, I can't smell anything. Leorio, Kurapika! Killua says it's better to move to the front."

Sakura sweatdropped at Gon's loud pronouncement of their intentions. GEEZ, he has no idea how to conceal his actions does he? Inner was annoyed by his outburst and Sakura couldn't blame her counterpart.

"You really are a fool." Killua seemed to agree as well.

"Stupid! If I could go any faster, I'd be at the front for sure!" Leorio yelled up.

"Don't worry about us. You guys go ahead." Kurapika answered for them. Sakura was concerned for them, but Kurapika was capable and wouldn't involve them if their lives were at risk.

"Let's go" Killua pushed them both forward and they started their move up to the front.

…

…

…

As they moved to the front of the group screams erupted around them at various points, the unlucky contestants who couldn't escape the ruses of the swamp.

"I keep hearing screams around us" Gon observed.

Killua didn't seem nervous about this development, "It's reminding us to stay alert."

"Just stick close and we should be fine if we keep moving forward." She assured them and herself.

"I wonder if Leorio and Kurapika are ok?"

She tried to think of something to say that might ease his worry, "I'm sure…."

Just as she started to comfort him the floor gave out beneath their feet and delivered them into the wet, slimy mouth of a giant frog. DISGUSTING! Inner was fuming and stomping around in her head, meanwhile, she actually had to deal with what has single handedly become one of the grossest things to happen to her.

"Ugghhhh, I'm going to kill this thing." She started gearing up to punch a hole through the monstrous frog, but before she could the frog started to squirm and then a rushing force pushed them back through its mouth… with all of the other contents of it's stomach. They slid out in a giant sticky puddle.

After it puked them up it waddled away again and it took a bit of restraint to stop frome exacting her revenge on the creature. Sakura was quick jump up and shake off the remnants of the fluid.

Gon rubbed the back of his head, "Looks like we didn't suit it's taste."

"It was due to this." Killua held up the can from one of Tonpa's drinks.

"The drink that Tonpa gave to you! Thanks to that we were saved." Gon exclaimed.

"Even without it, we would've gotten out."

"Yeah, I would have punched a hole through that thing." She said as she pumped her fist in her signature Shannaro pose. They both looked curiously over at her.

Gon looked over from Sakura back to where the other contestants were probably still wading through the forest, "I'm worried about Kurapika and Leorio."

Killua dismissed Gon's worry, "Forget about them, let's go. We need to catch up while we can." He started his run forward again and Sakura followed.

However, as they were running she noticed Gon had wandered off and if she remembered the look in his eyes, so very much like a different set of blue ones, she knew exactly what he was going to do.

She quickly diverted her route and started to hop from tree to tree, hoping to intercept and drag him back, screaming or not. She didn't have time for this, the sooner they got through these strange tests the sooner she could find her way back home.

As she swiftly moved through the treetops she kept looking to the ground hoping to see familiar the familiar green outfit, to no avail. However, as she got further she started to sense it, that rising bloodlust from before, Hisoka.

He must be lurking around this area… but why? She was almost sweating from the overpowering feeling, but she had the instinct that Gon would have managed to land himself in the deepest pit of trouble and that Hisoka would probably be that pit. She forcefully exhaled and inhaled to calm her nerves and hone her senses searching for where exactly it was coming from.

THERE! Snapping her eyes open she followed the trail to its eventual end.

…

…

…

The trees started to thin and up ahead she could see a clearing. She saw the crumpled body of Leorio on the ground and to her horror Hisoka holding Gon up in the air by his neck. Before she could even think about a better possible move she threw herself in the fray.

Aiming a chakra-loaded punch straight for his head. Before she could make the fatal blow, however, he vanished and appeared several feet away. She slid into a crouch before Gon, pulling out a kunai for extra measure.

"Another contestant and it's the interesting one from before." Hisoka's twisted smile graced his face, the sickening feeling around him condensing into a miasma, "it must be my lucky day."

She pressed her body more into a crouch, waiting to see if he would strike. She would protect Gon and Leorio with her life if she would have to, this psychopath wouldn't get his hands on anyone else.

If he attacked she could use her smaller figure to move out of the way, but it might leave Gon in the open. She needed to diffuse the situation…. But she couldn't get her body to untense from this position. Her body was so ready it hurt to think about not fighting.

She breathed out harshly, "I do not wish to fight you, but if you move to harm them I will have no choice." She was completely bluffing and what was worse was that she knew she didn't have the power to back up that bluff.

"Hmmmm… I'm afraid that isn't your choice to make now is it? After all, I'm the examiner," Hisoka started to walk towards her, the energy coming off of him was dark and malicious. It almost felt like she was choking on it.

"I wonder what you're capable of? Your entrance was certainly eye-catching and I'm always a fan of a good magic trick." Hisoka stopped several feet in front of them, "What do you say we trade a few."

She wildly started to think through what she could do; she could distract him for a moment, punch the ground out from underneath and flee with Gon in her arms, but Leorio would be too far away. I won't reach him in time. She would have to, it's better to save at least one instead of doom them all.

"Those who leave their friends behind are worse than scum."

She wasn't fast enough, she wasn't strong enough, but she'll be damned if she turns her back on those who need her protection. Sakura smiled.

Gon had finished catching his breath on the ground, "Sakura?"

"Don't worry I'll protect you and Leorio." She said without looking back. She pulled her chakra in tight to her core and then slowly spread it out like she had practiced back home, drawing the already thick fog closer in, giving her the cover she would need.

Hisoka kept his distance in front of them, he seemed intrigued at the gathering mist around them, but that manic smile refused to leave his face.

The fog drew tighter and tighter, closer and closer.

Deciding she had enough cover she quickly ran towards him and as she was almost upon him he sliced through with one of his playing cards, however, instead of blood her clone poofed into the mist as well. She re-appeared behind him, but before she could sink her kunai into him he had moved as well. She quickly pressed forward with a bout of taijutsu pushing him further and further away from Leorio and Gon until they were shrouded by her conjured mist.

* * *

Gon watched as Sakura engaged the larger man in the fight. She was faster than himself, but not faster than Hisoka. When Hisoka sliced clean through her, he almost shouted out expecting to see his new friend lying still on the ground. Instead, there was white smoke adding to the already thick fog and mist.

He watched as Hisoka blocked every move and turn she made which simple efficiency. He watched until they were shrouded out of site and that's when he realized what Sakura was doing. She was giving them time to get away… but it would be almost impossible to move Leorio, especially all the way to the second test site.

As he moved towards Leorio, hoping to at least try or maybe wake the older guy up, he heard a sound from below. The crunching sound drew closer and closer to the surface and he readied his fishing rod to defeat whatever creature popped up from below.

The ground cracked and he tensed up for the attack, when a hand clawed its way to the surface, his face paled at the creepy sight of the lone hand groping around the ground. Then another hand popped to surface, followed by a pink head.

"Sakura!" Gon yelled out in surprise.

"Baka! Keep quiet." She shushed him quickly. She looked towards the battle to make sure she wasn't discovered and to his surprise he could still her Hisoka fighting as if she was still there.

"Gon I need you to run with me while I carry Leorio back." He looked at her questioningly and then nodded in agreement as he heard the continuing sounds of the fight further into the fog. Sakura threw Leorio over her back and doing a couple odd hand signs she then leapt into the trees while he followed right behind her.

As they deftly moved from branch to branch he stared at her back, for once thinking about who she was… she was super mysterious and he couldn't help but want to know more about her history, her past, why she was here?

Even though they were in danger right now, he was glad he met her. His new friend.

* * *

Back in the conjured fog, Hisoka was impressed, though he had expected some level of skill due to her strange arrival and her unusual aura. What was odd though, was that when he tested his nen on her earlier she didn't seem to have any skill or training in it; unable to block out the nen attack which un-steadied her before he withdrew it.

Instead of being disappointed, he was even more enticed. To have such skill and power without the aid of nen and instead relying on what he assumed was her natural life-force and energy, it was incredibly risky and very few could seek to achieve her skill level as it was.

She had pressed him further and further away from her group, like a tiger she was ferocious and unyielding in her assault. It was her eyes though that got his blood pumping, she was channeling so much rage through her eyes it was incredible. She was just like the younger boy but the boy had . He had a feeling she would be ready to kill without mercy soon and he wanted to see it happen. He couldn't wait to pluck this fruit.

Deciding he wanted a change of pace he caught one of her wrists when she went in to elbow him and brought her arm up and behind her.

"Now then, you've had your fun, but I think it's time for mine." He started to go on the offensive. Sakura moved double time to avoid his blows. A right hook she blocked, followed a swipe of feet she dodged, continuing until he caught her by surprise when his left palm slammed into her ribcage. The blow was strong enough to throw her away from him, skidding across the ground until she landed some paces away from him.

She panted on the ground that blow had a bit of nen infused into it which was probably why she was struggling to catch her breath. It wasn't enough to kill but he had cracked a rib, at least.

"Huff," she slowly climbed into a kneeling position on the ground. Still trying to fight despite the damage that had been dealt.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

She looked up quickly at the sound, her intense focus returned. He looked down at the incoming message from Illumi telling him where the Second Test was going to be located.

"Unfortunately, we won't be able to continue for now, but ….," At this he walked over to her and crouched down in front of her, "Congratulations!"

Her eyes widened in confusion, "what…." The fog, which had been persistent while they had been fighting, started to dissipate.

"You've passed my exam," he smiled down at her, "Your friends did too. You'll all be such good hunters. And as a reward I'll even carry the tall one back with me." He looked up to where the other two had been located expecting to see one unconscious and the other probably prepared to fight again. He'd have to wait though, but he could at least get his name. However, his gaze slid over an empty field….

He looked back down again to see the pink girl smirking up at him. "Fooled you." was all she said before she poofed into white smoke again leaving him empty handed in the clearing.

What an interesting selection, he thought to himself, I can't wait to see how they ripen.

He smiled with glee.

* * *

She smiled, Gon was rather smart (much smarter than she was at his age) and he understood their situation well enough to know they needed to be agile. They kept up their pace for a while with Gon's nose leading them right back to Killua as he started to take the lead and set the pace, she was allowed to focus on what her clone had learned.

Hisoka was incredibly strong, jonin-rank at least, with added abilities she was sure he wasn't showing. The fight pissed her off in the end with his display of their difference in power. His single blowed had cracked the artificial ribs of her shadow clone.

It was good that she used a shadow clone instead of standard substitution despite the extra chakra she had to siphon off to maintain it. Hisoka's single hit would have been enough to destroy a substitution, but now she mentally had to process all the information gathered and re-live the pain he had inflicted.

"GON! SAKURA!"

The noise disrupted her concentration and looking towards the ground she could see Kurapika running towards them, concern showing on his face.

She and Gon jumped down, an awkward feat for her with the gangly bundle of Leorio she was carrying.

"Leorio?" Kurapika was confused to see the older man being carried on her back like it was nothing.

"Leorio and Gon tried to fight Hisoka." She said while catching her breath.

"That idiot! I told him to run, but I had a feeling he might have gone back to pick a fight." They started to continue their run towards the second test on the ground.

As they continued running both Gon and Kurapika kept giving her strange looks. She couldn't determine what they wanted but if she ventured a guess it would have to do with the strange abilities Gon saw and Kurapika was still curious from everything else she's done.

Gon decided to break the silence, "Sakura, how did Hisoka not know we were gone? The mist was thick but he's…" He trailed off.

"Oh, I used a genjutsu and a clone." she said matter-of-factly and not without a bit of pride. She was surprised herself that he never used any techniques against her. She had been routinely checking for genjutsus and other traps when they were escaping.

The look on her companions' faces went even stranger as they mouthed out the word genjutsu and Gon seemed especially excited at the idea of clone though.

"What is a genjutsu and what do you mean a clone? I've never heard of those techniques," Kurapika pressed her for more answers.

She was confused now, why didn't they know what either of these things are. Sure civilians certainly weren't able to use shinobi techniques but they still knew the basics of such tactics, well, enough to be wary.

"A genjutsu is an illusion, for Hisoka I just used one that distorted sounds and hid our forms in the mist. My clone I created to fight against him while I hid underground until I could grab you, Gon. My clone, however, once dispelled gives me everything the clone experienced and felt."

Kurapika seemed surprised at this, "How did you come by these techniques?" His eyes hungered for the knowledge of this new power.

"I can't say." Kurapika's eye flashed and for second she thought she almost saw a sharingan red in them. Still, she was a loyal shinobi to her village and wouldn't reveal secrets that could prove detrimental to her home. She needed to stop him before he pushed any further.

"One of the things Hisoka said to us was that we passed his exam. All of us. Kurapika, do you have any idea what he was talking about?"

Kurapika, mollified by the new information, seemed intrigued at the development. Gon seemed similarly interested in this new tidbit, he was probably still trying to figure Hisoka out.

"I'm not sure but I think he might have been playing judge."

"Judge?" Gon spoke out.

"Yes. He must have his own benchmarks for evaluating a person's power. It's possible that he was measuring the strength of each applicant. Apparently, you, Sakura and Leorio all met his standards. Whatever these happen to be."

At this Gon seemed surprised, "Okay, that makes sense, but I was powerless to do anything to stop him. Sakura was the only one that even stood a chance."

"You landed your first hit on him. That's something right?" At this Sakura nodded along with Kurapika's words.

"That's only because I surprised him. And besides Leorio didn't win his fight, but Hisoka passed him anyway."

"Kurapika's right, you and Leorio both refused to leave anyone to their fate with Hisoka, it's admirable."

At this Kurapika seemed intrigued, "I wonder… he could have sensed that you are kindred spirits with him."

"He sensed it?"

"It's possible that Hisoka could qualify as a hunter, but I sincerely doubt it. However, I must admit I'm impressed by his superhuman agility and the gracefulness of his technique. Those who are blessed with unique talents are often drawn to others with unique gifts of their own."

Gon and Sakura looked towards Kurapika as his face was drawn in concentration towards this line of thinking, "It's likely that based on his intuition and experience Hisoka could tell that you both had the skill and potential to become Hunters. So, from his perspective killing the two of you now would have been a waste."

"So, even if I hadn't fought against Hisoka, he would have spared their lives?" Sakura questioned.

"I'm certain he would have still passed them," Kurapika seemed to sense their mood at this point, "Oh no, sorry. That must sound horrible to be compared to him."

"Mmmm… no but I've got to say, it was actually pretty exciting back there." Gon calmed Kurapika down.

But at this remark it was Kurapika and Sakura who looked at Gon with concern.

"I was so scared that all I wanted to do was run away. But I couldn't because I was excited at the same time. Isn't that weird?"

"It isn't…," Sakura thought back to her own first time confronting the thought of death for herself and her comrades, "I remember the first time I truly fought. It was the most terrifying thing on the planet because I was certain I was going to die, but the thought of backing down… of letting my team down. That would have broken."

Gon smiled at her, excited by the new information about her past and her own bravery that matched his own. Looking up they could see the crowd of contestants waiting for the Second Test up ahead and picked up their pace. Their thoughts still haunted by Hisoka, but looking forwards towards the next phase of the exam.

* * *

With this the First Test of the Hunter Exam is concluded. 148 contestants remain.

* * *

Sakura and the others pulled into the waiting area, shifting through the crowd of people seeing if they could find Killua and a place to rest up.

"Looks like we made it in time." Kurapika spoke, relieved at having made it despite the odds.

As they looked for a place to settle down a sharp sense of dread shocked her senses. Their group swiftly looked over to the source of the feeling seeing Hisoka waiting at the tree line. He gave them a small secretive smile and raised his hand up to give a wave curling his fingers in a mockingly flirtatious manner.

Sakura turned away from the dangerous man and located a cropping of trees away from Hisoka. She set Leorio down at the base of the tree to look over his injuries, though looking at him again it just seemed like he got punched so hard to get knocked out. Her hand lit up green with healing chakra as she placed it on his cheek to ease the swelling and encourage his body to wake up.

"What's that?" Both Kurapika and Gon pressed in closer to her to get a better look at her glowing hand.

"Oh...uh… I'm just going to heal his cheek a bit. He's lucky he didn't get any real injuries besides the swelling." They didn't know what any genjutsu or ninjutsu and it seemed they had no idea healing was like either. What a strange place.

"You can heal?!" Gon exclaimed, eyes wide with this new discovery, "I always heal super-fast myself."

Great another Naruto, I have a feeling I'll have to pin him down to get him on bedrest. Sakura smiled at Gon before focusing back at the task on hand.

In a matter of seconds Leorio's bruise disappeared and he dumbly blinked his eyes open, "Man that feels nice. Wait, where am I? Why I can't remember?"

Was the damage really that bad? She reached her glowing hand up to his forehead… Leorio's eyes bulged as he yelped out, "What are you doing?!"

She rolled her eyes at his antics, "I'm trying to check you for brain damage, but I forgot you might not have one." Sakura gasped, covering her mouth.

Leorio meanwhile gaped his mouth at her like a dying fish while Kurapika was holding back laughter at her outburst.

"Hahahaha!" Killua had caught up to their group at the tail end just to hear her roast Leorio, "Gon! Sakura! I was starting to think you weren't going to make it here or that you'd make it at all."

Gon spoke up at this, "We just followed your scent! It was kind of hard since yours isn't as strong as Leorio's cologne, but I have a really strong sense of smell."

"You followed my scent? Man, Gon! You really are weird aren't you?"

While Gon and Killua caught up, Leorio and Kurapika crowded her while plying her with questions about her healing ability.

"No way! Sakura!" Killua called her attention over and she gladly accepted an escape route from the other duo, "Gon told me you faced Hisoka!"

Sakura nodded as Killua pressed on his eyes wide with excitement, "Haha I knew you were crazy too!"

Sakura blushed tomato red at that, "Hey!"

"Excellent work everyone!" Satotz interrupted their gang's moment, "The Second Phase will take place here, in the Visca Forest Park. So, I shall now take my leave. I wish you all the very best of luck."

Satotz swiftly started his monstrously brisk walk back down the way they came, leaving the group at the gate of the new test site.

Rumble Rumble Rumble

The gate started to swing open.


	4. Freefall

Welcome to another chapter! This one took longer life is rough recently and it's been hard to write.

I don't Naruto nor Hunter x Hunter. They belong to their respective owners.

* * *

Clusterfuck was the word that came to mind when Sakura thought of how Phase 2 was going.

Not only had the two new instructors sent them after the biggest pigs she'd ever fucking seen, but they had expected them to actually cook a meal that could satisfy the absolute dragon of a woman before her.

She'd thrown every dish presented to her, which her much larger companion Buhara ate instead. (Seriously… there is no way he isn't at least somewhat related to the Akimichis).

Speaking of the green haired woman….

"You wanna say that again!" Menchi took the bald contestant by the scar as she shook him around, "If I hear any more crap from you, I'll shove my arm up your ass and knock your teeth out! Got it?!"

The moment she finished dragging the man within an inch of his life she collapsed back on her chair, her legs neatly crossed.

"As I was saying, not a single one of you has the guts to cook anything remotely new or innovative-"

The man from earlier, Toga, a large wrestler contestant who seemed to take offense to Menchi and Buhara being their proctors. He had made a huge scene about it and seemed to want to continue with the same pointless bickering, "Hey! I'm not here because I'm trying to be some gourmet chef or food critic. I want to be a Hunter!" His proclamation earned him some cheers from the crowd. "My goal is to become a Bounty Hunter. A mere Gourmet Hunter has no right to judge me."

"Too bad that it's us mere Gourmet Hunters who are the examiners this year. I hope you do your best next year."

He gritted his teeth, face turning red as he charged, "Damn you!" His charged ended up being as successful as his dish when he was quickly swatted away by Buhara as if he was nothing more than an annoying mosquito. He landed with a thud, having reached the entrance of the testing site.

"Buhara, you should have stayed put."

"But if I hadn't done anything you'd have put him in his grave."

"That's true." Menchi lifted herself from her seat, large butcher knives in each hand, "let me make ourselves clear. In our search for ingredients, we Gourmet Hunters are used to coming face-to-face with fearsome beasts."

She swung the knives up in each hand, their glittering edges exposed in the sunlight, "As for fighting skills, we had to master them despite our lack of interest." The blades circled in the air around her as she juggled them. "Without an attention to detail and the guts to take on new challenges, it is reasonable to say that none of you are fit to become a Hunter." She finished her speech pointing her blades back at the audience.

Part of her wanted to be Menchi and the other part never wanted to see her again.

The crowd stood still in disbelief, not expecting the outcome of this test. Sakura eyed Hisoka across the distance watching as he started to raise one of his cards. She tensed reading herself to rescue her friends from the inevitable blood bath he would bring down.

_Whomp … whomp ….. Whomp ….. Whomp _

A beating sound resounding on the wind, faint at first but getting stronger with each second. She checked the treeline but couldn't see anything amiss. Then from above a voice, "Even so, not passing a single candidate is a bit strict."

She looked up seeing a large hulking structure in the sky. She never seen anything like it. Like a bloated fish with teeth detailed out on the forefront, an insignia on the side, double XXs with middle space filled with red the only other decale.

"That's the mark of the Hunter Association." One of the contestants called out, "is it a committee member?"

Something white was thrown … no leapt from the side of the flying craft hurtling towards the ground. With all the fury of Tsunade, an ancient looking man fell from the sky hitting the ground with an earthen boom.

"Who's the old man?" Someone called out.

"He's the head of the Selection Committee, Chairman Netero." Menchi stepped forward to greet him.

"Rather than being in charge, you could say I'm working behind the scenes. In other words, someone who comes in to fix a problem such as this." The man's voice was less commanding officer and more friendly grandfather. In a weird sense he reminded her of the Third. HIs gentle mannerisms inspired many of the shinobi in their village and she could sense a similar respect in the way Menchi looked at him.

"While testing their readiness to take on new challenges, you concluded that they all lack the proper attitude and so, you failed all of them, right?"

"No. The participants said some degrading things about Gourmet Hunters that didn't sit well with me. So, I became more strict with the selection process." Sakura was surprised Menchi would bend her will so quickly, but if she ventured a guess she already knew that her ruling was unfair to at least some of the contestants.

"That means you realize your mistake in failing to judge fairly, right?"

"Yes, I tend to lose my patience when it comes to food. It's not something an examiner should do. I will step down as an examiner and let you judge the test once more."

"But it will be a problem to find an examiner at the last minute. However, when can come to an agreement. You can stay on as the examiner, but you will take part in the test by giving a demonstration. How does that sound?"

"All right, I agree," Menchi smiled to herself, "As for the new task, it will be hard-boiled eggs! Chairman, can you take us to the Split-In-Half Mountain in the airship?"

"Split-In-Half Mountain? Alright. I can help with that."

The airship docked on the ground, not far from where they were standing, and the group began their quick march to the vessel. Just as she stepped on the ramp everything slowed down, liking walking in sand, each step seemed heavy and misplaced. Like she was listing sideways and all sense of gravity weighed down on her with each beat.

Her eyes flicked over to the person next to her, well above her height was the smiling face of the chairman. He regarded her with interested eyes as time seemed to slow. Her footsteps felt distorted from her body and she couldn't look away from him.

_His eyes…. What's going on with his eyes._ She couldn't pull herself away and even though she was looking straight into them, she couldn't see any kekkei genkai. She quickly flared her chakra out in an irregular pattern hoping to break whatever genjutsu he must be using.

_**USELESS. **_Inner _roared _in her mind and she gasped out. Like a balloon popping the consuming feeling was gone in an instant. The Chairman simply smiled and walked away. Gon and Kurapika both looked over at her in confusion to which she simply shook off their concerned glances, Sakura clenched her fist so tight she could almost feel herself breaking skin.

Even as the airship lurched into the sky she couldn't focus. All she could feel was that one instant repeated like some perverse Sharingan her mind fixated on it. Even as the new lands spread out like a tableau below her all she could feel was the world sliding out from underneath her.

Maybe she was feeling the altitude?

* * *

Their new location was aptly named. A wide canyon cleaved the mountain in half, exposing the inner layers of rock and sediment to their curious gaze. The airship parked close to the edge of the gap. Their group quickly followed Menchi and the Chairman out to the crevasse.

"Everyone. Take a good look over the cliff."

"What is that?"

Peering over the edge, she saw white ropes extending from the sides of the canyon. _No… it's something else? _Looking a little closer they reminded her of spiderwebs, but she'd never seen any spiders capable of producing webs that large. She squinted, trying to get a closer look over the side while keeping the Chairman within her peripheral vision in case he tried something else.

"That is the lair of the spider eagles." Menchi pointed out, nodding to the webs that lay below.

_Spider…. Eagles? _Why was every animal

"Wow, they actually build their homes in places like these." Gon was leaning over the edge, curiosity plastered over his face.

A strong wind picked up from the edge of the cliff blasting the contestants closest to the edge. "Take a good look beneath the lair. Those sacks are the spider eagles' eggs."

The chairman then started to speak calling attention to the "Dream Eggs" and why these creatures build their nests to precariously to protect them from large contestant Toga, who despite his previous boasting flinched at the earlier gust of wind, he seemed even more shocked at the prospect of what this challenge could bring him to do.

Menchi, meanwhile, had stepped towards the edge. Leaning up on the balls of her feet she gave herself a small bounce and pushed off from the edge to the webs below. Catching herself on one of the lines she swung a couple of times before stalling to a halt. Some of the contestants gasped in surprise at the bold move.

Leorio speaks off to her left, "Even if she manages to retrieve an egg how will she get back up here?" Sakura just thinks if Menchi were a shinobi, there would be countless ways to potentially survive such a death fall, but she isn't. Still maybe these Hunters have something up their sleeve. She doubts the woman would take such a risky action if she didn't know what she was doing.

They watch as Menchi waits on the hanging line, then just as suddenly as before she drops. Gliding past one of the sacks she grabs ono an egg and continues falling like a stone.

"She's basically committing suicide." Leorio exclaims, ever the dramatist.

"No that's not true." Kurapika speaks up this time.

Then just as before the wind kicks up again, bringing with it Menchi as she sails above the hanging webs and back up to the top of the cliff face. Gon and Killua beam with interest, like children with a new toy.

"The updraft from the bottom of the valley helps newborn larvae float into their nests." Sakura eyes Chairman Netero as he speaks. Her inner nerd intrigued by the new data presented, the idea that despite the solid egg state they're still considered larvae speaks to a different animal classification system. The would make the most sense as the species she's encountered have had vastly different physiology than the ones of homeland.

The chairman caught her eye, as if sensing the curiosity radiating off of her, he gave her a slight smile once more. Menchi, still riding the updraft, hopped off beside them, landing next to Toga with the egg clutched in her hands.

Menchi eyes gleamed, "Now, we will be using the eggs to make some hard-boiled eggs."

Her attention suddenly diverted back to Gon and the others. THey're standing by the edge looking over the abyss and she realizes they mean to jump any moment now.

She hears Toga over beside Menchi, "you must be joking. Nobody sane would jump from such a height."

At that point, in direct contradiction to Toga's words, her group set off - jumping over the cliff face and hurtling down in a total freefall. Gon yelled out in joy, quickly joined by Killua. THeir laughter contagious enough to get her to yell out as well, feeling every bit the 14-year-old she was.

The other contestants quickly caught on and rushed to join them over the edge. They all clung to the webs, dangling over the thousand-foot drop.

One of the contestants only waited seconds before dropping down to grab an egg. "Well, let's go down too!" Leorio called out, about to let go before Gon stopped him.

"It's not the right time yet."

"Why?"

"We need the wind to blow."

"The draft isn't blowing consistently, it would be foolish to rush into certain death." Sakura smirked at Leorio.

"So, when is it going to blow." Leorio puffed up his cheeks at her.

"Hold on." Gon held an intense look of concentration, drawing the attention of the other contestants. THey could tell he'd figured out at least some inspiration for this challenge.

**He really has the instincts of a bloodhound, doesn't he? **Sakura couldn't bring herself to disagree.

Then a sudden drop, the web sinks lower. The combined weight of the group unable to be supported by the webs.

Leorio and Kurapika cried out in alarm, "The webs unable to hold us!"

Killua, as cool as ever, "Gon, how much longer?" Gon, however, simply closed his eyes and started. _Is he smelling the air? _She'd have to trust him, or maybe there was a moment that one would know instinctively like the rush of wind before a blade struck. That moment before the kill.

Some of the contestants couldn't wait and unfortunately dropped down to their deaths as well.

Then, three things happened almost at once. First web dipped lower, almost detaching from the walls, causing Leorio to yell out in alarm. Then, a breeze came up from the valley below, with it the scent of earth, moss, and forest. Third, a nudge at the back of her mind. Now was the moment to strike.

Near simultaneously, Gon yells out "NOW!" He lets go of his rope as they all follow suite. Aiming themselves to catch eggs as they drop down. The breeze caught in her hair whipping it around wildly as they plummeted. As suddenly as they dropped the wind came back in force she couldn't help it a wild whooping laugh left her mouth as they floated up to the top once more.

….

…

…

Menchi prepped a large stew pot to fit the bounty of their eggs, which cooked quickly enough. One of them was placed in her hands it's soft white eggy self gleamed appetizingly. At least she was hungry, taking a soft bite and then another larger bite.

The taste was amazing and Sakura could practically feel her eyes turning into hearts. Around her others were also tasting their delicious bounty. Off to the side she could see Gon offering Toga a piece of his egg. So much like Naruto, their mutual kindness shining out to wake those trapped inside themselves. Menchi was now talking to them as well and she could see the man change before her eyes.

Maybe there was something in this exam, something despite all the deaths, that was a little bit … kinder.

* * *

**At this point, 42 candidates remain. **


End file.
